Groups sue Trump administration over policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico

Human rights groups sued the Trump administration on Thursday over its policy of sending non-Mexican migrants who cross the southern border to seek asylum in the United States back to Mexico to wait while their requests are being processed.

The policy known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP, announced in December is aimed at cutting the number of families applying for asylum in the United States, a legal process that can take months or years.

The lawsuit filed in U.S District Court in California by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other organizations says the policy puts asylum seekers in danger and violates protections they are entitled to under U.S. and international law. (Reporting by Mica Rosenberg; editing by Jonathan Oatis)